Behind the Brand: L’Oréal

In July this year, the UK advertising standards authority, the ASA, ruled that an ad for Maybelline’s ‘Eraser’ foundation was misleading. The Photoshopping of model Christie Turlington had given the impression that the make-up had a bigger transformative effect than it was really capable of. As a result, the ad won't be shown again in its current form in the UK. If ethical campaigners had their way then Maybelline’s parent company, French cosmetics giant L’Oréal, would also be banned but this time from shelves across the country. The reason? L’Oréal’s continued testing of some of its products on animals and because of criticisms made about Switzerland’s Nestlé, a 30 per cent shareholder in L’Oréal, over its marketing of baby formula in the developing world. Both claims are complex and contested. They also present a major headache for consumers who pride themselves on their...